Imploding
by JPsmiles
Summary: A short WHN for the episode Family Reunion.


_**Note: This is a WHN for the episode Family Reunion. It is also an adaption of a story I wrote for another fandom but I felt it would work for The A-Team as well. Hope you like it!**_

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Face knew he had to stay strong.

Even after Ellen told him that she couldn't handle another fugitive in her family and to please not contact her…he stayed strong. He stood up straight and stared blankly ahead until she drove down the road and her taillights were no longer in sight.

Then the meltdown began.

The team watched as all the color drained from their friend's face…but still his body remained rigid. They all desperately wanted to go over to him and provide comfort, but his tense body language suggested that they wait.

Face was like a ticking time bomb…so they kept their distance and waited for him to explode. What they witnessed instead was more of an implosion.

He began to sway ever so slightly on his feet before falling down hard onto his knees. He was still looking straight ahead though he wasn't seeing anything but flashes of yesterday's events. When his mind froze on the face of what he had only just learned was his father he started to shake. Any of that strength that had been lingering in his body was gone.

They watched as Face's shoulders slumped and his head fell forward. It was the sign they had been waiting for and the trio hustled forward and knelt down with the fallen man.

Hannibal put a hand on his lieutenant's heaving back. "Face…you have to breathe, kid. It's going to be okay." He kept up the soft patter of comforting words until his breathing slowed.

"M'okay," he mumbled, his head still down.

Murdock and B.A. shared a look. Face was most definitely _not_ okay.

Face had been running on pure adrenaline since learning the prior day that A.J. Bancroft was his father. But now all of the adrenaline was gone and he had crashed. They all knew it was inevitable… including Face.

"You think you can stand?" Hannibal asked.

"Yeah." Face lifted his head but groaned and shut his eyes as everything started to swirl around him.

"Hey, take your time, muchacho," Murdock encouraged.

A couple of minutes later, Face was back on his feet but only because he was being held up by Hannibal on one side and B.A. on the other. Murdock walked ahead toward the van to clear out the back so Face could lie down.

The trio shuffled slowly forward a few steps until Face stopped. "Don't feel so good," he slurred. "Dizzy."

Hannibal and B.A. could tell from the immense tremors that their friend was going into shock. They needed to get him away from this town and somewhere where he felt safe so they could tend to his physical and emotional well-being.

Hannibal looked at Face with concern. "Just let us do all the work, kid. You focus on breathing nice and steady, okay?"

Face gasped out a barely audible 'okay' and they started forward once more.

Murdock had the back door of the van open and was holding a blanket. Tears came to his eyes as she saw that his blonde teammate was barely conscious; after all he was partly responsible for some of the pain having kept that information from his best friend until it was too late. He met B.A.'s eyes and the big guy smiled reassuringly. "He'll be alright, fool."

Murdock nodded, but this time he wasn't sure that Face would be okay. At Face's request, he had told Hannibal and B.A. everything early that morning after Stockwell confirmed the paternity and while Face was talking to Ellen.

But none of them could have predicted Face's sister abandoning him just like so many others had over the years.

The moment they got Face laying down across the back seat his body went limp and his head lolled to the side.

Murdock squeezed his hand anyway before covering him with the blanket and shutting the door. Joining Hannibal and B.A. at the front of the van he asked, "Where to, colonel?"

"My condo in L.A.," Hannibal answered without hesitation. "There is no way I'm leaving him alone tonight."

The others nodded their approval.

Murdock shuddered. "I can't imagine what he's going through…gaining and losing a family all within a couple of days."

"Me either," Hannibal agreed with a sigh. "We couldn't be there for him the first time when he was a child, but we sure as hell will be now. We'll see him through this."

And that's exactly what they did. After all, that's what a real family is for.

The End


End file.
